Jan 19, 2023
At the end of 2022, the Philippines Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart marked the completion of the Gilutongan Island phase of the MSC Typhoon Odette Housing Project with the blessing of the newly constructed houses in the area, just short of a year after Typhoon Odette hit the region in December 2021.
The house blessing ceremony took place at the end of November, with Fr Joel Bonza MSC (Cebu District Superior) and Fr Samuel Patriarca MSC (Director of the Philippines Mission Office), leading the celebrations, alongside several MSC priests from the Cebu District, including Fr Reynante Joseph Ga, Fr Ramil Baluran and Fr Juls Amaneo.
Hundreds of thousands of families found themselves displaced from their homes in December 2021, when Typhoon Odette hit the Philippines with devastating consequences. The super-typhoon was the strongest storm of the year, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries, and damaging – often destroying – hundreds of thousands of homes. Recalling the impact of the typhoon shortly after it passed, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart – Social Initiative and Collaborative Action Project said, “When it made landfall, winds of up to 210 km per hour were uprooting coconut trees, ripping down electricity poles, and hurling slabs of corrugated tin and wood through the air.”
Work had commenced on the Gilutongan Island project, situated in Cordova, Cebu, back in July 2022, following the first stage of the Typhoon Odette Housing Project in Bayagnan Island, Surigao City, earlier in the year. As reported by the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines, a total of 254 households benefitted from the Gilutongan Island phase of the project, including 108 homes that had been completely destroyed by Typhoon Odette, and 146 houses that had partial damage.
“On behalf of the beneficiaries, we thank all our donors, mission partners and volunteers who helped us in many ways to make this project possible,” read a post on the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines. “We also extend our gratitude to the Task Force Typhoon Odette – Gilutongan and the community leaders who worked hard in the implementation and monitoring of the project. To all of you, DAGHANG SALAMAT KANINYONG TANAN! (Thank you all so much!)”
Now, a year after the storm, we send our heartfelt congratulations and blessings to our MSC brothers in the Philippines, and to the families and communities who have been working so hard to rebuild their homes and their lives since. We keep them in our prayers, that they may be safe and filled with hope as we begin a new year and mark a new chapter for the people of Gilutongan Island.
Images via the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc.
PLEASE HELP OUR SACRED HEART FAMILY IN THE PHILIPPINES
Dec 20, 2022
Throughout the month of November, MSC Missions in the Philippines responded to the urgent needs of families and communities directly affected by Tropical Storm Paeng (or Tropical Storm Nalgae), which made landfall at the very end of October 2022. Over 100 deaths were confirmed in the Philippines in the aftermath of the storm, with more people reported missing, and severe damage done to homes, farms, and businesses.
The MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc., working together with the MSC Centre for the Poor, issued an immediate call for help, and undertook an emergency response programme across Mindanao, providing essential items to communities in Maguindanao and Cotabato who were left reeling by the effects of the storm. Relief packs included basic food provisions and essentials, and were distributed to more than 200 families in regions of significant storm destruction.
On November 9th, 219 families received emergency aid packs through the relief operation in Barangay Tapian, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, as part of the ongoing mission response project in the Philippines, which aims to provide direct assistance to communities affected by natural disasters. In a country that is greatly impacted by typhoons, this mission response programme undertaken by the MSC Philippine Province is a true lifeline to families and communities who live under a constant threat of flooding and serious danger to both lives and livelihoods.
“We would like to thank all our Mission Partners and donors for your kindness and generosity,” wrote the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc. on their Facebook page. “We also thank the MSC – CFP [MSC Centre for the Poor] Butuan led by Fr. Richie Gomez & Bro. Franz Pelare, MSC for spearheading the project and to all our supporters & volunteers.”
As we approach the end of the year, we keep our MSC brothers and the communities they serve in the Philippines in our prayers, particularly those families in Mindanao who are rebuilding and restoring in the aftermath of the storm.
Images via the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc.
*
Oct 27, 2022
As the school year comes to a close at the MSC-run Centro Faustino Villanueva in Guatemala, Fr Jairo Uriel Sevilla Mendoza MSC, Director of the centre, writes in gratitude for the support of mission friends here in the Irish Province, which is enabling great progress within the school community.
Founded by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in 1984, Centro Faustino Villanueva is a vocational centre that has been dedicated to helping vulnerable and disadvantaged youths in the rural region of San Agustín, Alta Verapaz, and its surrounds, for almost 40 years. Located in an extremely remote area with limited access, the school is situated approximately eight hours’ drive from Guatemala City, and is an invaluable resource for young people who would otherwise be isolated by their locality and the challenges raised by coming from backgrounds of poverty and hardship.
“In the past year, we have been reflecting on our journey here at the Centro Faustino Villanueva, with a view to improving and innovating our work in the training of our young people,” writes Fr Jairo. “We are in the process of finishing the programme for a new agricultural and livestock project, which will help us to take advantage of all the resources the centre has to offer, and to provide training in the areas of agriculture, livestock, and forestry, among others. As we are living in a rural area, this will motivate our students to continue in promising new ventures, developing farms and orchards that will also help to improve diet and nutrition for local families and communities.”
“We are also working towards opening our boarding school again; because of the effects of the COVID pandemic, we have not been able to have a functioning boarding section in recent times,” Fr Jairo continues. “At the end of October, our students will finish the term, followed by a week of training for our teachers. Then, we will have a vacation, and use this time to improve our plans for the new school year.”
“We are so grateful for the support of the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, which will be the foundation for this new phase. Together, we place our trust in God that with your ongoing support, we can move forward in our work. God bless you for your generosity; we remain, as always, united in the heart of Christ.”
As one academic year closes and hope springs afresh for the new year to come, we thank our mission friends for making it possible for us to help our MSC brothers to continue to make a great difference in the lives of disadvantaged youths and their families in Guatemala. United in the heart of Christ, we pray that the Lord will bless the Centro Faustino Villanueva community in their ongoing work, and bring every success in these plans for a hopeful new chapter for the school.
Images courtesy of Fr Jairo Uriel Sevilla Mendoza MSC, Director of Centro Faustino Villanueva.
*
Oct 13, 2022
This summer, the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been working with the MSC community in southern Haiti, to support them in the construction of houses in the region of Camp-Perrin, where thousands of local families lost their homes in a devastating earthquake which took place in August 2021.
The people of Haiti have met with many challenges of varying severity in recent years, from natural disasters to political instability and a difficult economic climate. In January of 2010, an earthquake killed 300,000 people in Southern Haiti, and was followed just five years later by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. This hurricane ripped through the south-west of the island, caused landslides, floods, and fire. As the country once more did its best to rebuild, in August 2021, another devastating earthquake hit 150km from the Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital, with its epicentre in the city of South St Louis.
A “crucial” time for southern Haiti
In addition, the country has reached crisis point in terms of political unrest. Criminal gangs are a very serious issue, with theft, kidnapping, and murder a constant threat hanging over the population. The further issues brought by the COVID-19 pandemic have added another layer of challenge and significant difficulty to a society that was already struggling severely.
Currently, the people of southern Haiti are attempting to overcome the fallout of the earthquake that took place on August 14th, 2021.
“The great south of Haiti was terribly affected by the earthquake of August 2021,” writes Fr Juan Tomás García MSC. “At the moment, the consequences are crucial.”
Devastation in Camp-Perrin
Camp-Perrin, a mountain settlement, suffered great destruction, with immense damage affecting all aspects of life. The local economy was extremely weak prior to the earthquake, to the point that it could not respond to even 10% of the needs of the local population. This percentage has now fallen further as the economy continues to weaken. The agricultural sector has been almost completely demolished, firstly by the earthquake itself, and now because there is no access to seeds to replant. The landscape was badly damaged by landslides and collapses, especially in the mountains, where many people live. The few roads that did exist have been ruined, in many cases irreparably. Rivers have dried up, and the soil is so malnourished that it no longer has the ability to grow produce successfully.
The people too have suffered seriously in a psychological and emotional sense, especially children. Local water and electricity systems have been destroyed, and have not yet been repaired.
In Camp-Perrin, the figures speak for themselves.
3,200 homes were completely destroyed,
while a further 1,100 houses have serious – in many cases, irreparable – damage.
510 houses have reported minor damage.
Only 290 homes have remained intact in the region.
In addition to the homes that have been lost,
25 Catholic chapels and churches have been destroyed by the earthquake.
MSCs building for the future
MSCs ministering in the region are doing their best to help those who have lost so much in the wake of this terrible natural disaster. The MSC team there are currently in the completion stages of 14 homes in the region, and are working to raise funds to build 20 more anti-seismic, hurricane-proof houses in rural communities.
The Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart is proud to support the work being carried out by our brothers in Haiti who are working to fund the construction of these houses, which are being built with help from local volunteers and the families who will live in them. For people who have suffered so much in so short a time, these homes will be a lifeline, and a promise of hope for the years to come.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS
Oct 6, 2022
Welcome to the Winter 2022 edition of the MSC Message!
• Read a special greeting from Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, Director of the MSC Missions Office.
• Find out more about the latest updates from the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines, where the MSC Centre for the Poor Agricultural Cooperative are working to bring brighter prospects to local communities, while nurturing and restoring harmony with the natural world.
• Catch up on the latest news from the mission fields, including updates from our MSC brothers in the Guatemala and Fiji, and our OLSH Sisters in Papua New Guinea and Burkina Faso, West Africa.
• Discover more about the work being done by MSCs in southern Haiti, where homes and communities must be rebuilt following a devastating earthquake in August 2021.
• Fr Alan Neville MSC writes from South Sudan, where he is currently ministering with the Loreto team in Rumbek.
• “Ordinary men answering an extraordinary call from God”: Read a message from Fr Con and Fr Tony, our Vocations Team.
• Find out more about recent celebrations in the Irish Province, where three of our MSC community recently celebrated 50 years of ordination at their Golden Jubilee.
Read the Winter 2022 edition of the MSC Message
*
Oct 6, 2022
The Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart is delighted to be able to support the tremendous work being done by the Cancer Connect team in Co. Cork, with a recent donation of €25,000 facilitating the addition of a new car to their fleet.
Fr John Fitzgerald MSC presents the keys of the newest Cancer Connect car to volunteer driver Majella O’Neill. Also pictured are Cancer Connect chair Neilie O’Leary (far right), co-ordinator Helen O’Driscoll, and board secretary David O’Brien. (Photo: Anne Minihane via Helen O’Driscoll, Cancer Connect co-ordinator.)
Cancer Connect is a charitable organisation that offers transport to Cork hospitals for passengers who need help getting to radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments, as well as other related appointments. Founded in 2011 and run entirely by a team of over 250 volunteer drivers, the Cancer Connect website states that over 34,500 passenger journeys have been recorded to date, with services now extending beyond the initial remit of West Cork to the broader County Cork area.
A five-seater Skoda Superb has now been added to the existing fleet of five cars, based in Skibbereen, Co. Cork. Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, Director of the MSC Missions Office, recently met with Cancer Connect chair Neilie O’Leary, board secretary David O’Brien, co-ordinator Helen O’Driscoll, and volunteer driver Majella O’Neill, to officially hand over the keys to the new car.
The Cancer Connect team have expressed their sincere gratitude for the donation, acknowledging that the new vehicle will make a real and valuable contribution to the driving team and their passengers.
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are proud to support the wonderful work done by Cancer Connect in Co. Cork. Pictured L-R: Cancer Connect chair Neilie O’Leary, co-ordinator Helen O’Driscoll, and board secretary David O’Brien, with Fr John Fitzgerald MSC and Majella O’Neill, volunteer driver for Cancer Connect. (Photo: Anne Minihane via Helen O’Driscoll, Cancer Connect co-ordinator.)
Speaking of our friendship with the Cancer Connect team, Fr John Fitzgerald highlighted the vital work they do in easing the burden for those who are seriously ill.
“The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have a close association with West Cork, and many MSCs have ministered there over the years, including myself,” said Fr John. “We are well aware of the distances involved to get to the major hospitals in Cork City for treatment, and the importance of being able to travel easily and without additional stress at such a crucial time. We are delighted to be able to help sponsor a vehicle that will be used to transport people easily from their homes to and from their places of treatment.”
“We wish the Cancer Connect team and their voluntary drivers well. We hope everyone will be safe, and we remember all who are ill in our prayers.”
*
